“My heart hasn’t been this open since I gave birth!” a grateful Lauren Ferrante told her laughing yoga students, travel partners and friends. Seated around a long, communal table, the 27 of us had just spent the prior week together at La Dogana, a traditional organic olive oil estate in the middle of Italy. Now, we held up generous glasses of red and white wine while singing Dean Martin’s classic-and-kitschy “That’s Amore” to toast our gracious teacher and host on our last night together.
This was actually Ferrante’s first-ever retreat – though you wouldn’t know it by how incredible the week was. Beneath the Tuscan sun, we all became a little family – exploring, laughing, eating and, yes, doing some yoga.
We would have anywhere from one to three hours of morning practice that were completely and truly optional – no judgment. You could get on the mat or sleep in. Then we’d sit down for a fresh cappuccino and breakfast, sweaty, happy and together, before starting our day’s adventures. These included cultural experiences like pizza-making class and wine tastings, a picnic with fresh cheeses and more wine, wandering around medieval Italian cities and experiencing la dolce vita. All of it felt steeped in tradition and genuine, and never touristy. Finally, we’d return home to our villa for a homemade, communal dinner, followed by more relaxing, dancing, chatting and connecting.
“Thinking about Italy gives me goosebumps,” Ferrante told the Keys Weekly from her beachfront “yoga studio” at Islamorada’s Cheeca Lodge, a few months after returning. “I love traveling, new experiences and getting out of my comfort zone, and I absolutely fucking adore what I do, so to marry all those things was just out of this world!”
Ferrante’s retreats are – in her words – “yoga AND …,” meaning there is a balance of time on the mat and everything else that the host location has to offer. She curates balance and fun alongside deep and “juicy” yoga practices.
“A lot of people who come to my retreats are in the grind and living that life, and this takes them out of that,” Ferrante said. “It allows them to reset and get a taste of what I try to create for myself every day here in the Keys – being surrounded by nature and enjoying a simpler life. It’s just so much more beautiful to me. Those are the things I want my retreats to allow people to experience.”
Ferrante’s appeal – among many things – is her authenticity. She explained, “There are days I’m feeling woo-woo, and I’ll get emotional and deep, and there are days when it’ll be light, and there will be f-bombs, and it’ll be whatever it’s going to be. And, I’m just being me.”
“And, that gives other people the permission to do the same. I do think this practice is for every body, every single body, and the more people can come to everything they do in life as themselves and be honest and be in alignment with what their truth is, then the happier they’re going to be,” she added.
The Keys yogi is an Islamorada mainstay, teaching daily classes at Cheeca Lodge and Casa Morada. The retreat guests who weren’t her Keys regulars were past resort guests who had wandered into Ferrante’s classes and became hooked on her particular zest for life and style of teaching.
“My style of yoga is intuitive,” she explained. “I really try to feel into the people that have shown up to my class and what they need and try to tap into my intuition. And, when I do so, it’s always right. People seem to be getting exactly what they need.”
It doesn’t matter if you can do warrior two or a headstand, or if you just want to stay in child’s pose the entire time, she encourages. She knows, and she teaches, that yoga is about giving yourself what you need and nothing else.
The Italy retreat is hosted in authentic estate homes and cottages in Tuscany. TIFFANY DUONG/Keys Weekly 
La Dogana’s owner, Lucia de Ferrari, is young, brilliant, passionate and kind. She is obsessed with slow food culture in Italy and beyond. TIFFANY DUONG/Keys Weekly 
Keys regulars at Lauren Ferrante’s class cheer the yoga teacher on the last night of her 2022 Italy retreat. TIFFANY DUONG/Keys Weekly
Her style clearly resonates with people. Ferrante’s classes are the #1 attraction listed for the village’s Spa and Wellness category on TripAdvisor – with a perfect, five-star rating. Her first retreat sold out in a record three days; her upcoming retreat in Greece also sold out in days. And, this year’s revamped Italy itinerary includes “experiences you couldn’t imagine” during two back-to-back weeks at La Dogana. There are just a few spots left in each week.
“It’s going to be incredible – not to be missed,” Ferrante closed. “Life is to be lived and experienced. So, let’s do it.”To learn more about Ferrante’s classes or retreats, follow her on Instagram @IslandFlowYoga, email Laurenferrante1@gmail.com or call (516) 458-8622.
